Raising the rusty dust of red soil

The Ajgaon zila parishad government school library in Sawantwadi taluka, in Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra, is over 100 years old. On the first floor of the building, about 40 people between 20 and 70 are gathered from the villages around. On the walls are painted pictures of Savitribai Phule, C.V. Raman, and other social reformers. People have come in from neighbouring villages to discuss their worry over the ongoing geological survey for a potential mine in Nanos village.

Mahadev Shetye, 52, a farmer from Nanos, says that in October 2024, when he was climbing the hill to his farm, he heard the sound of machines drilling the earth and felt tremors. He ventured into the forest and saw a patch of land had been cleared of fruit trees. Mahadev himself grows cashew, mango, jackfruit, along with chawli (black-eyes peas), and suran (elephant foot yam).

He says he saw three men holding “some machines”. One, sitting next to a jar of red paint with a brush in hand, was marking a plastic box that held samples of stones and soil. “They said they had been hired by a mining company to conduct a survey of the land, as there could be a mineral to be mined. I rushed to the sarpanch (village head) with other residents of Nanos, but she too was not aware of this,” says Mahadev.

In July 2022, the Directorate of Geology and Mining, Government of Maharashtra, had commissioned an iron ore mine in Agralvadi and Nanos villages on 372 hectares of land to the Goa-based Sociedade De Fomento Industrial Pvt Ltd. The first villagers say they heard about it was in October 2024, with the start of drilling sounds.

The Nanos population of around 600 people, is against the impending mining. They feel it will upset the balance of natural resources that will in turn impact their livelihood. From the mining experience of another neighbouring village, Redi, they also fear health conditions that come from the red dust that hangs in the air.

The next shock for the residents came when they learnt about another agreement signed between JSW Steel Limited and the District Mining Officer of Sindhudurg, Government of Maharashtra, in 2024. This granted a prospecting licence of iron ore in the Ajgaon block, which included Shiroda, Aravali, Talavne, Nanos, and Malewad villages of Sawantwadi taluka.

JSW Steel Ltd has been given the right to conduct an initial investigation of geology and mineral resources in 849 hectares of land for iron ore, manganese, chrome, and nickel associated minerals. A prospecting licence for mining is a government permit granted by the government to a mining company to conduct initial investigations to determine if mining operations are viable in that location. If minerals are discovered, a mining lease is granted.

A looming presence

Sindhudurg, the southernmost district of Maharashtra, is bordered by the Sahyadri mountain range on the east and the Arabian sea on the west. It harbours varied habitats and a rich biodiversity. In Nanos, like several other villages, people create step-like platforms on steep slopes to either practise farming or build their homes. Any movement on the hill above could have an impact on those living below or around them.

At the meeting, people talk over each other for about half an hour, expressing their anxiety. Sagar Somkant Nanoskar, 36, who makes kokum sharbat (juice made from a fruit from the mangosteen family), in Nanos, is asking Ramesh Gauns, 74, a retired schoolteacher from Bicholim in Goa, to guide the villagers with steps they can take to stop the mining projects. Gauns is an environmental activist, who has taken the Vedanta group to the National Green Tribunal over their mining project in Bicholim, and several other mining companies to the Supreme Court. “First decide, whether you want khaani (mines) or paani (water),” he asks and people respond, “Paani”.

“So far, we have examined the geographical location of this region and taken photographs and maps of forest patches, water resources, hills, schools, religious sanctums, and homes. Our next step is to file RTI (Right to Information) requests with the forest department, mining department, water resource department, pollution control board, and local panchayat body,” Gauns shares with the attendees. After they receive the responses, they will file a case against the authorities, he says. He warns that since it is not a tribal village, their fight with the mining company could be extra challenging.

He explains that a gram sabha resolution in a non-tribal area around a mining project does hold weight, as it represents the collective voice of the community, but its legal power is less robust compared to a resolution passed in a Scheduled Area. “There, under the provision of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), 1996, gram sabhas have greater authority over forest land and resource management due to the tribal population’s rights,” he says.

Nanos sarpanch, Prajakta Umesh Shetye, says that government authorities did not inform her or any villager about the geological survey. It was only when drilling sounds were heard that she approached the District Collector’s office, where she learnt about the mining contract.

“I wrote a letter to oppose the prospective mining operation in our village, but the gram panchayat members filed a no-confidence motion against me. In the first week of March 2025, I received orders from government officials to cooperate with the survey. I will have to obey to the orders,” she says.

Nanos residents accuse the sarpanch and her husband of having sold the village out for personal gain. The sarpanch’s husband, Umesh Purushottam Shetye says the new mining projects will create jobs.

In their letter in 2022 to the gram panchayat of the Vengurla taluka, Sindhudurg district, for another project seeking a no-objection certificate, JSW Steel had said that they would “mostly carry out… surface exploration followed by drilling in the mineral potential areas” but that “there will be no damage of the land in the grant area”.

Ecologically sensitive zones

The Maharashtra Minor Mineral Extraction Rules, 2013, says that no commercial quarrying can take place in an eco-sensitive zone. Also, for the mining of minerals, the prior approval of local bodies such as gram sabhas or a municipality is necessary.

A Central government report, updated in July 2024, identified approximately 35% of the Western Ghats as ecologically sensitive. It covers 56,825.7 square km, spread across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.

A July 6, 2022, gazette notification of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, says that the Western Ghats are an important geological landform and a global biodiversity hotspot. As per the notification, all the Sindhudurg villages where mining prospecting licences have been granted, either fall under the eco-sensitive zone or eco-sensitive buffer zones.

Nanoskar and about 50 others had planned to go on a hunger strike against the ongoing survey on Republic Day, but the day before, on January 25, the Sindhudurg District Collector’s office called them for a meeting with the Guardian Minister of the district and the Minister of Fisheries and Ports in Maharashtra, Nitesh Narayan Rane.

“The Minister assured us that no mining project would be forced on us if the entire village was against it. He directed the mining department to prepare a report saying that villagers are against it and submit it to the State and Central government. But since then, there has been no update,” says Nanoskar.

Over a call, the Minister says, “No mining project can start without the consent of people. In a meeting with the residents in January, I had assured them that even if it is a Central government project and approval has come, as a Guardian Minister, it is my duty to preserve the natural resources in Sindhudurg.”

Depleting resources

Nanos’ residents’ fears stem from iron ore mining in Redi that began in the late 1950s and continues to date. Redi is about 8 kilometres from Nanos and 6 km from Ajgaon, where the meeting is held. Several companies operate here.

Ajgaon sarpanch Yashashree Saudagar says, “Once Redi used to be like our village; today it is only covered in red dust. We do not want a Redi to be repeated.” Redi’s people were once farmers and fisherfolk. The forests and coasts only had sounds of the waves hitting the beach and the chirping of birds.

Now, villagers say that all they hear is the noise heavy lorries transporting minerals sold across India and the world. Over the years, their independent livelihoods have been denuded. Now, they mostly work for the mining companies as labourers and cleaners.

In Nanos, every house in the village has a kitchen garden where red and green chillis, ladies’ fingers, and brinjal grow. Fruit trees like mango and chikoo (sapota) are everywhere.

Prasad Gawade, 31, an environmentalist, popular as Konkani Ranmanus on Instagram, has been creating awareness on the rich biodiversity of Sindhudurg since 2019. “If giant companies start mining in this area, there can be major environmental disasters. Every region in this district grows some crop: paddy, pulses, fruits, vegetables. There are clean sources of drinking water that do not need filtration. The coastal residents, kolis, practise fishing,” says Gawade, emphasising the need to have an environmental impact assessment study to understand the impact of mining projects in eco-sensitive zones.

He claims Sindhudurg has over 2,000 sacred groves that are home to ancient deities. “We have a rare freshwater wetland which we call, dev ka jungle (forest of the gods). There is a unique flowering tree called surangi that blooms in spring and nagkesar flower that is used to make perfume. There are salt pans and freshwater fish too,” he says, adding that the laterite rock on the Konkan coast acts as an aquifer.

On March 22, 2024, the Bombay High Court had declared Sawantwadi and Dodamarg (both in Sindhudurg district) an ecologically sensitive area to ensure protection for the wildlife corridor. Stalin Dayanand, project director of Vanashakti, a Mumbai-based non-profit that works towards restoring natural habitats and protecting biological diversity across Maharashtra, was one of the petitioners.

He says, “People in Dodamarg have seen how the only mine at Kalane, just 10 km away, destroyed forests and wildlife habitats, and caused natural disasters like landslides.” He says the court took evidence into account, but, “the State government is yet to comply with the order.”

Redi’s health crisis

Depleting natural resources though, are not the only fear of the villagers. Dr. Vivek Eknath Redkar, who has worked for over 35 years treating and studying people exposed to mining in Maharashtra, has published various scientific research papers on the issue. One of his research papers published in the European Heart Journal found that because of deeply dug mines, the groundwater table of wells has gone down.

“In our 2019 research, we found that all water sources in Redi were contaminated with metals, unsuitable for drinking by humans or animals. The water contains high levels of fluoride, detrimental to bone and tooth health. It also causes gastrointestinal infections,” Dr. Redkar, who runs the Redkar Charitable Hospital in Redi, says.

His research among 4,000 people found that a region exposed to mining for over 60 years has congestive cardiac failure because of repeated lungs infections. “Such patients were given steroids on a repetitive basis that later caused diabetes in the area. At present, every 6 patients out of 10 suffers from diabetes that could have been avoided if they had been given masks.”

Sunanda Gawande, 84, from Sukalbhat hamlet in Redi, suffers from acute bronchitis. She has an oxygen cylinder at home to use in emergencies. “My husband used to load and unload minerals in the minefields. He had two heart attacks before 50 and a third one at 76, when he died.”

purnima.sah@thehindu.co.in

Edited by Sunalini Mathew